Of Gauging Loyalties
by concretya
Summary: Alanna takes Buri to meet Marek in LR. Canon couplings, Alanna and Marek friendship. Oneshot.


Of Gauging Loyalties

Disclaimer: Not mine. Tammy's characters, story, et all.

Alanna introduces Buri to Marek in LR. Canon couplings, Alanna and Marek friendship, Marek's maturity. Er. Yes. One-shot.

I freely admit that most of this is unabashed fangirling; I'm a diehard Marek adorer…

…But honestly, people. Do any of you _really_ think Alanna would let George hand his throne over to someone she knew only as an acquaintance, not even a friend? No? Really, folks. Alanna Marek = friends.

Takes place during LR; the book says that Alanna introduced Buri to her friends in the Rogue. Happens after Anci betrayed them and almost everyone was killed.

Oh, and the first part picks up where Alanna goes up to Stefan's loft to hear the news for the first time.

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Alanna clambered up the ladder after the hostler. She shook the slight stab of memory away, realizing that, as familiar as this act was, the news had never before been so "gloomsome."

Stefan stood alert in the mow, but the young knight leaned against the wall briefly. It'd been days since she'd returned, and she still had only an inkling of the state of affairs.

"News?" she said, swallowing any other words on the tip of her tongue before she even knew what they were.

"It's rather straightforward, what I'm able to tell you, but naught good…"

"George mentioned death. Not surprising, really." The redhead tried to keep her attitude matter-of-fact.

"Aye… but more'n one of 'em."

Alanna stiffened. "Who, then? Might as well start out there."

Stefan stared down at the straw. "There's a lot of 'em... More'n anyone can take, almost, even George." He paused, and Alanna tapped her foot impatiently. "Most of the court's gone. Orem, 'n Shem... Lightfingers. Scholar. Bunch of the women."

The lady knight swiftly raised her head (Dead? She could remember most of them from when she was Alan the page), and Stefan gazed back uncertainly. "Most all of 'em, lady..." he repeated slowly.

"How? Has this…" with difficulty, Alanna made herself keep still to hear out the rest.

"George, bein' himself, angered Claw, and Claw retaliated-"

Alanna could've _guessed _that, by Mithros. "But how did he manage to… kill so _many_ of them?"

"Let me finish, it's easier t'explain all a' once. Claw can get a fair few of our folk to turn to him, by fair means or foul, some lies. And it's hard to deal with-"

"Who? Who was it this time?" Alanna accidentally bit the inside of her cheek as she asked.

"I b'lieve it was Anci, you remember her?"

"An-Anci?" Violet eyes widened. "Marek's girl?" Disbelief hardened her voice. "So did Marek turn too?"

"Nay..." Stefan shifted uneasily. The knight was holding her temper in, but the interruptions weren't a good sign. Best cut to the chase. "Nay, he was wounded with Ercole and Rispah. Anci we don't know 'bout Anci- think she was tricked- but Claw's disappeared. Though there's a lot of brewin' trouble in the palace and upper city, too, you'll need to talk to someone else…"

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Neither Alanna nor Buri spoke as the prowled through the streets. It was hardly their first visit into the city, and there were no malevolent passersby on the streets, but uneasiness enswathed them.

"It's about time I re-investigated the city that surrounds us," Alanna had grimly told her companion, "and it's good procrastination for thinking. Not that I'd be surprised if any conversation I start turns deadly serious…. Ah well. We'll see if we run into anyone I know. Give your monarch and mine time to go gallivanting off with each other…"

Buri's eyes roved along the streets. "Cheer up and think of this as a social call on no one in particular," Alanna told her; but inwardly, the knight grew increasingly edgy.

_Hypocrite,_ she thought as she clenched Lightning's hilt tightly. "Oh well. We're almost there, Buri. Just around this cor-"

She was grateful for her demeanor a second later when an agile figure whipped around the very corner; she, naturally, had her sword out before the person even saw them…

…and then he had several knives out, too, nearly as quickly. Buri brought up her blade in turn.

Recognition struck as soon as Alanna dared let her gaze travel up to the man's face, away from those knives. "Marek!" she exclaimed. She felt Buri glance at her.

His mood, too, changed from fey to friendly with ease. "Alanna! I was wonderin' when you'd be coming down here…we thought that with his Majesty lurkin' up in your part, you'd not visit us again… and which of your fabled companions is this?" The thief slipped one of his knives back into it's wrist-sheath, and tilted the other downwards. Marek was smiling.

Alanna ignored the question, despite the glare of the query's subject. "We were coming to see you, or anyone else we could find… is the Dancing Dove still habitable?"

Marek nodded. "It is, though Solom's gone… we'll head in there?"

"Yes, please.." Alanna glanced at Buri; the girl had an all-too-familiar expression on her face. "Marek, this is-"

The K'mir cut her off. "Did you hear us all the way from the inn, or were you out here for other reasons?" Alanna sighed at Buri's bodyguard-attitude, but her friend _was_ making progress at not sounding so harsh.

The young man shot a glance at Buri with suspicion to match her own, and Alanna intervened. Which was odd, now that she thought of it; Marek had never before seemed to need intervention, by George or otherwise.

_Oh. I guess having your lover betray your people will do that to you…_ she thought, _but that doesn't account for the attitude the whole_ city_ has…_"Inn, Buri. Wait for it." The group started walking, though all three members were loath to turn their backs. "But…" her curiosity got the better of her, "Marek, it's a fair question…"

"What, we're not allowed to stalk thr'out our own city?" the thief replied indifferently. "I was just takin' a stroll, a patrol you might say.."

"One man patrol?" Buri jutted in.

"When my partner's still injured and half the court's gone, aye.."

"Right," said Alanna as they arrived at the oddly silent in. "I heard about that. From Stefan, actually. How're you?"

Marek lead them to an oddly positioned table in the main room. _New arrangements_. Alanna knew she had been shocked by the quiet of the inn before in this war, but it had never been _this_… brooding. And not tamely brooding, either. _Now the building's practically telling me things, by all the gods. Mithros. It's practically a non-sentient Chamber of the Ordeal._ She dropped into a chair, but Marek leaned on the back of one, and Buri stubbornly stood.

"As fine as one can be with all these bad dealings.." he finally answered, and turned again to Buri. "The Lady Knight seems determined not t' introduce us until you've grown fed up enough t' slaughter me on the spot," Marek observed.

"_This,_" Alanna told her companion, "is Marek Swiftknife. And one of George's problems," she added flippantly. "One of his most trusted problems. And my fellow female warrior here is Buriram Tourak-"

"Buri," Buri interrupted, relaxing. "I keep _telling_ Alanna not to bother with my full name."

Marek grinned in response to her slight smile. "Aye, Buri suits."

"Suits you or suits me?" she cautiously eased onto a chair.

The brunet snorted. "Both," he told her. "Now that that's outta the way… did you come to the city just for sight-seein', Alanna? You must be able to get news from his Majesty and Stefan."

"Just killing time…" Alanna paused, examining the table; Marek watched her. "And I wanted to introduce Buri to you all. But…"

"Nobody around to listen in, dun't worry."

"Well, it is rather awkward around here…" She frowned. "I got a run-through from Stefan, then Rispah explained a bunch. I guess I'm just never satiated, and I wanted to come down here myself.."

Marek thought for a minute, glancing over both Alanna and Buri before he spoke. "Well, if you're wantin' to hear… see, George is a great Rogue, and a great Majesty. But I do have some experience with challengin' him-" he allowed himself a wry smile "-and knowin' when people approve of the new contender. And there's always a fair horde of neutral thieves, who don't care what king rules them so long as they don't get caught. It doesn't usually affect 'em as much as this will, see.

"But it's not that there're more rogues complet'ly dedicated to one side this time 'round, neither. It's just that those who prefer to leave it in the gods' hands just distance themselves from it, and from Corus…and there's none to fall back on, and everybody's either Claw's or his Majesty's."

Alanna opened her mouth to reply when Marek added on, "though it seems that if you're not Claw's, you're dead."

The statement brought silence to the small, sparse room, occupied by only the three of them.

As the female knight felt her own anger rising, she was suddenly compelled to ask- "Marek.. are you _mad_ at, well, those who went to Claw?"

Marek raised his eyebrows. _Er._ _Well._ _Best go for…_"…nay, I don't think I'm mad at… Anci…"

And then, "You expect me to believe _that,_ Marek Swiftknife?" Alanna said hotly.

Buri shifted. This was rather uncomfortable… she had a general idea of what was going on, yes, but this talk of people she didn't know and nuances she didn't understand was just _stupid._

"We learned not t'expect anythin' from you, Sir Alanna. And we all know you have more'v a temper than most."

Alanna, expectably, bristled. "It doesn't take _temper_ to-"

"We don't even know if she's dead or live. It's lik'ly Claw killed her, too. And they told her his Majesty turned em in to the law…"

"I assume you know that he _did _turn-"

"Aye, I know. What does it change?"

"For _regicide._"

He smiled dryly. "That's what your da said when he found out. Me, I just want this back-stabbin' in the Rogue to be done."

Alanna looked positively murderous. "There's more than the rogue at stake, Marek! The country's lucky that George isn't single-mindedly concentrating on the Rogue and the Rogue's _honor code!_"

The thief remained silent for a minute. "You're arguin' with me and I haven't even said my own feelin's, but who doesn't know there's a lot at stake? There always is when the noble's plots and Rogue matters go mixin'."

Ironically, a middle-aged street-wise man chose that moment to enter, and Marek called him over. Buri seized the opportunity to glare at Alanna. She may be refraining from kicking the knight under the table right now, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to demand an explanation later.

The new thief was listening as Marek whispered sharply in his ear; the women could hear "…and tell him somethin' different. Anythin' different…" Then, quite normally, "And bring over some drinks for the guests."

"So." Alanna spoke overly-sweet when the man hurried away and Marek glanced at her again. "Dealing with the people George usually deals with, now?"

Marek actually laughed. _There might be some hope for this afternoon, then,_ Buri thought, disgruntled. _Please, gods, let there be some hope…_ "I thought we already realized that he's busy dealin' with more important matters?"

_Horse lords._ That tore it, then. "So you use knives?"

Alanna glanced at her friend. The girl was indignant, probably at having to listen to this banter she didn't understand. She chuckled; might as well play along and have some fun. "He can almost beat George with them, Buri."

"Aye." Marek met Buri's eyes and shook off the aura of serious matters; they both started grinning.  "Aye, and you?"

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End.

Author's Note: Rather abrupt ending. May fix sometime. In the meanwhile… no, it's not a Marek/Buri. (Though, that's a good idea…… hmmm…..)

Well, there ya go!


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